To attack in a simple fashion, as opposed to using complex micro to attack in a sophisticated way. "I just 1A'ed my units to his main and crushed his army." Derived from the act of pressing "1" to select the first control group and then pressing "A" to attack with it, the implication being that those are the only actions the attack required.

4G

Lingo for the four Warp-Gate rush, or to indicate a four Gate opening.

20 Minutes No Rush - Used to characterize an inexperienced player who plays a heavy turtle game and does not attack until the 20 minute mark. From 1998 to 200x it was a popular play style in SC1 for casual gamers.

Training Mechanics will distinguish between "Move" and "A-Move" commands. Depending on your Hotkey Layout, you press A and left click on the ground (not a unit) and you will attack move there. "A-Move" is explained in the basic tutorials.

An attack where the player commits everything in an offensive attack to win the game, often even including some or all of this player's workers. If this all-in attack fails, the game is almost certainly lost, as the player has sacrificed so much to attempt it.

Actions per minute - The number of clicks and key presses performed in one minute according to Blizzard time. This value is switched with EAPM on the Spectator and Replay UI.

Army-Hotkey

This is a term, which is often used, but correctly it should be called "Control Group for your army" or "Army-Control-Group". Many players use 1 as "Army-Hotkey", but it depends on personal preference.

A Pylon which is solely responsible for powering multiple critical structures.

Archon Toilet

A technique which involves the use of the Mothership's vortex ability on the enemy army, in conjunction with the Archon's natural AOE attack. A very late-game maneuver which takes advantage of the vortex mechanic, which upon release clumps the units trapped inside and use of the Archon AOE attack to quickly vaporize an army. Highly effective against slower units.(e.g. Broodlords, Battlecruisers, Voidrays).

AUR = Average Unspent Resources

Since Patch 2.0.x Blizzard presents statistics after every game you play. "Performance" shows the "Average Unspent Resources". A low amount is better than a large amount. "Resources" means Minerals and Gas.

Used to describe burrowedBanelings laying in wait to ambush units like Marines and other light units as targets, when they simply walk over by mistake. Most commonly seen versus Terran, with Banelings in pairs used to pick off Marine clusters.

Bad Manner - Acting toward another person with disrespect. Also see Manner.

Big Push, The

A technique used heavily by players such as Flash and Life. Using an timing push, based on upgrades, with a mass-producing units pushing heavily for territory, forcing a defensive response, and breaking the enemy's army Supply Line or simply their bases (and Economy) to pieces.

Build Order - The creation order of buildings and units in the early game to achieve a specific strategy. Also see opening.

Boa Constrictor

When one side is continually applying pressure to his opponent at multiple locations, usually done with static units like siege tanks in TvT.

BoX

Best of (Number) - The winner between two players is determined by winning the majority of a set number of games. For example, Bo5 ("Best of 5") means a player must win the majority of 5 games to win the series. Common BoX's are Bo1, Bo3, Bo5, and Bo7.

Used to describe the surface area of an attacking army. Pre-engagement, generally it is recommended to spread your army before attacking to ensure optimal damage output and prevent units cluttering amongst each other trying to reach the front line in order to attack.

The act of placing units outside of the enemy's base to prevent the enemy from expanding and to reduce the enemy's map control. "Contain" is sometimes prefixed by the units used in the contain, such as MMM contain, Roach contain, or Stalker contain.

Zerg hatcheries, creep tumours and overlords can create a sludge known as 'Creep'. This is useful for map control and increasing the Zerg player's vision of the map. Creep also increases the speed of both allied and enemy Zerg units running on it by 30%. See Creep for some more specific information.

Creep Bridge or Creep Highway

Refers to a long path of creep, usually created by Overlords, leading from the player's base to a strategic location, most often the opponent's base. This allows Zerg to reinforce to the strategic location very quickly.

Critical Mass

The number of units where the marginal benefit of one additional unit changes from linear to exponential. For example, going from 1 Void Ray to 2 Void Rays is linear in terms of strength against the enemy. However, going from 6 Void Rays to 7 Void Rays is much more effective than going from 1 to 2. Thus, having 6 Void Rays can be considered a critical mass of Void Rays. Critical masses are limited to ranged units only, and units which are ranged and have splash damage reach critical mass much faster than those without splash damage.

The start of the game where a player decides which build order and strategy to open with, which is sometimes decided upon based on scouting information. Depending on the skill of the player(s) involved, this phase of the game can last from the beginning of the match to anywhere around the 7-11 minute mark.

Economy

The state of a player's rate of income and number of mining units compared to the enemy's rate of income and number of mining units.

Elevator

Using aerial transportation (Medivac, Warp Prism, Overlord) to move units from one elevation to another elevation, thus acting like a real world elevator. Also see Drop.

Elimination Race

Situation where both players have very little or no economy and have to use their remaining units to win. Also see Base Race.

Effective Actions Per Minute - The number that represents how many clicks and buttons are being pressed in one minute according to Blizzard time. However repeat clicks (such as the constant repetitive pressing of hotkeys) have been removed from the total. This value is switched with APM on the Spectator and Replay UI.

A tactic where one avoids direct/tactical battles and instead aims to wear the enemy down via small skirmishes, disruption of economy, and drop tactics. Usually used when one side is at a disadvantage and is trying to gain a foothold. Name is a historical reference to Roman dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus.

The act of attacking from an additional angle to create a better concave, increase surface area, and block off retreat. Flanking increases the odds that the aggressor will win the engagement.

Float

Having an excessive amount of Minerals or Gas in the bank. This is often a sign of poor macro-management, although it can happen once a player reaches maximum Supply. It can also happen intentionally when saving up for a specific moment, such as waiting for a Spire in order to complete to make a large number of Mutalisks at once.

Game Time Seconds - The number of seconds that pass in the game compared to the real world. One GTS in the "Fastest" game speed is approximately .75 real world seconds. All time durations in the game, including the APM meter in replays, are expressed in GTS.

Harass or Harassment is the act of using a small number of units, usually with superior mobility, to cause damage to the enemy without a large engagement. Harassment is usually targeted at damaging or disrupting the enemy's economy, sometimes even the production. Typical harass units are Reapers, Banshees and Mutalisks.

Hard Counter

A unit or strategy that overwhelmingly dominates another unit or strategy (e.g. "Playing Scissors is a hard counter to Paper").

Hasu

Korean term - translated as "mediocre" - This refers to a player, strategy, or tactic that is not very good in a GM way, especially when referring to yourself. Also see Chobo.

Using micro to take advantage of one unit having higher range than another so one unit can harm the other without taking damage. The unit with the higher range attacks the other unit, moves slightly away, attacks again, and so on, maintaining the proper range.

Phase of the match where the map's resources are nearing depletion, control over the remaining expansions becomes vital, players are typically maxed out, and High tech units are in play. For examples, follow this link for first-person videos where matches go into the late game, here.

Lag

Lag refers to the game not running smoothly in almost any way. Lag can occur when any party connected to your game has a slow computer or a slow or unreliable connection to the game. In the presence of lag, units will take noticeably longer to respond to commands.

(Adjective with OBJECT/ACTION) - A "Manner ((Building Name))" (ex. "Manner Nexus", "Manner Hatchery") is a building created in an obvious fashion at the loser's base to show the winner's dominance in the match. This tells the losing player how much money the winning player had when the losing player lost. Usually expensive or redundant buildings are used such as creating a massive amount of Dark Shrines or Fleet Beacons. "Manner" can also be used with actions such as "Manner dancing" (using the dance command in the losing player's base) or "Manner MULEing" (dropping a MULE during a battle to humiliate the opponent). Also see Manner Pylon.

(Adjective with PERSON) - Calling someone manner (ex. "ThorZaIN is so mannered") means that he acts respectfully in all showmatches, doesn't badmouth his opponents, and never shows rage or foul-mouthed behaviors.

Occurs when a projectile lands on the target but deals no damage because the enemy unit is already dead. This reduces DPS which is highly undesirable. Overkill can only occur when an attack has a visible projectile (ex. Stalker, Mutalisk, Marauder). Also see Smart Firing.

Creation of a unit producing or tech structure anywhere that is not part of a player's base. A proxy unit producing structure reduces travelling time from the structure and the enemy's base leading to a strategic advantage. A proxy tech structure is used to hide the player's tech path and intention from the enemy.

Slowly forcing the enemy to retreat by inching forward with an attack force. Attacking the enemy in this slow fashion makes it much more difficult for the enemy to break. A common example of a push is leap-frogging Siege Tanks toward your opponent by moving the siege tanks from the back to the front of the push.

Seen in team play winner goes-on format, when a team is down to a final player with a score of zero, and that player is able to win the match with multiple consecutive wins.

RCR = Resource Collection Rate

The "Resource Collection Rate" is a statistic in your Match History (click on "Performance").

Run-by

The act of rushing units through the natural to reach the main in the early game, thus "running by" the enemy's defenses. This allows the player to scout the enemy's tech choices and harass the enemy's mineral line. Also see backstab.

Destroying a high-priority target before the other player can save it.

Soft Counter

A unit or strategy that has some advantage over another unit or strategy but not enough to totally dominate it. A soft counter can be negated by a reasonable numerical advantage or superior micromanagement. Also see hard counter.

Special Tactics

An increasingly popular term made famous by Protoss player White-Ra referring to unusual tactics that are meant to surprise the enemy, but even if scouted and countered does not hurt your overall gameplay. This is related to cheese in the power that comes when said tactic is unscouted and not explicitly prepared for.

Spooning

The act of destroying the opponent very slowly and deliberately, as if to kill someone with a spoon. This term goes hand-in-hand with the player ThorZaIN's nickname: "The Spoon Terran".

A micro technique where a unit is ordered to attack, move just as its attack animation begins, attack again as soon as the weapon cooldown is over, and so on. This maximizes the amount of damage a unit can do while pursuing enemy units or fleeing to a more favorable position. Also see Kiting.

Supply Block

The state of being unable to create additional units due to a player's current food being equal to or greater than the maximum food allowed. Build additional Supply Depots, Overlords, or Pylons to stop a supply block.

SQ = Spending quotient

Spending quotient (generally referred to as SQ) is a value introduced as a reliable method for quantitatively assessing a player’s economic management in a game.

Very often wrongly used instead of referring to tech as low/mid/high for Terran and Protoss techs.

Zerg - T1 = Hatchery, T2 = Lair, T3 = Hive

Sometimes people will refer to a half-tier, such as "T1.5". This means a unit requires more tech than one tier but not as much tech as the next tier. For example, a Baneling requires a Baneling Nest which requires a Spawning Pool, so a Baneling is T1.5 because it requires more tech than a Spawning Pool but not as much tech as a Lair.

The definitions including half-tiers are not clear-cut and subject to some debate, but can be broadly considered to be:

Since Patch 2.0.x Blizzard presents statistics after every game you play. "Performance" shows the "Time Supply Capped" in seconds (Format MM:SS). A low amount is better than a large amount. E.g 0:20 is better than 1:07.

Some units can attack further than their sight range will allow. Vision advantage occurs when a unit can attack the enemy using the full attack range due to additional vision granted by air units or floating buildings while the enemy cannot return fire.

"Worker Stack" aka "Drone Stack" aka "Probe Stack" aka "SCV Stack". A player might force two workers on a near Mineral Patch to get an economic boost. Fenner describes this technique in a short video. Good players force their first 8 workers on close patches. LotV starts with 12 workers, making this technique less relevant.

Wo

Short for walk-over. Sometimes a zero (w0) is used instead of the letter o, emphasizing the forfeiting party receiving zero points.

111 Build - Where a Terran player places down one Barracks, one Factory, and one Starport. The first number is the number of barracks, the second is the number of factories, and the third is the number of starports. So, 3-1-2 would mean 3 barracks, 1 factory, and 2 starports.

A term often used by military personnel for "gathering information". Intel is conducted on three levels: strategic, tactical and counterintelligence (e.g. deny scouting). See Intelligence assessment on Wikipedia for more information.

Smurf

An experienced player posing as a newbie under an alternate name

An experienced player hiding his real identity to not let any planned strategies get out by people uploading replays.

A player who wishes to test out new strategies without losing his public placement in the ranking.

TBA

To be announced - Information not yet disclosed by the person or organization in question.

TBD

To be determined - Something yet to be determined such as tournament participants, map pool, or release date.